Marmalade adopts Google Play game services

Marmalade is to support the newly-unveiled Google Play game services for connected games.

From today, developers using the Marmalade SDK can easily add Google Play game services to their Android games.

These extended features have already been implemented by German development studio Art of Bytes. Its game, Grave Defense HD, was made using Marmalade and now the first Marmalade-produced game to include Google Play services functionality in its Android version.

Google Play game services provides developers with a new suite of integrated social gaming features to holders of existing Google accounts, across both Android and iOS. Online leaderboards, achievements, social game discovery as well as real-time and asynchronous multiplayer features are all offered through this new service.

The Marmalade SDK extension initially supports achievements and leaderboards on Android, and future updates are planned to implement additional features on both Android and iOS.

“We’re excited to be launching Marmalade’s Google Play game services integration so soon after the service’s release at Google’s I/O conference,” said Marmalade CTO Tim Closs.

“I think we’re going to see rapid adoption of Google Play game services from both consumers and developers, and I can’t wait to see how our community makes use of these cool new features.”

Tanja Kobzar, product manager at Art of Bytes, added: “We are thrilled to be using Marmalade to adopt Google Play game services early and give our players the possibility to link their achievements, scores and progress to their accounts, see how good their friends are in this and other games. We are going to integrate Google Play game services to all our titles.”